Pressure-regulator for railway-brakes



(No Model.)

- H. HINOKLEY.

PRESSURE REGULATOR FOR RAILWAY BRAKES.

No. 468,618. Patented Feb. 9, 1892.

l/v bbmaooeo UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICEe HOWARD HINOKLEY, OFTRENTON,NEW JERSEY.

PRESSURE-REGULATORv FOR RAILWAY-BRAKES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 468,618, datedFebruary 9, 1892. Application filed September 13, 1890- Renewed July 20,1891. Serial No. 400,061. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: oted regulating-lever, whichregulating-lever Be it known that I, HOWARD HINOKLEY, a is connectedwith the live lever, the connecoitizen of the United States, residing atTrention of the link with the regulating-lever be- 55 ton, in the countyof Mercer and State of New ing through intermediate mechanism, where-Jersey, have invented certain new and useby the connection is shifted,so as to cause f ul Improvements in Pressure-Regulators for the primarylever to exert a variable leverage Railway-Brakes; and I do herebydeclare the on the regulating-lever and through iton the following to bea full, clear, and exact delive lever. 1 6O scription of the invention,such as will enable In the present embodiment of the inven- 10 othersskilled in the art to which it appertains tion I locate and arrange theregulating-lever to make and use the same. somewhat differently, and Idivide the link The invention relates, particularly, to autousuallyrunning from the primary to the live matic power-actuated brakes, andhas for its lever and interpose the regulating-lever beobject to providecertain new and improved tween its ends, making the connection ber 5means for automaticallyregulating the presstween the regulator and theprimarylever adure of the brake-shoes on the wheels proporjustable.tionately to the varying weight and momen- In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is tum of the car. a bottom view of a car equipped with the Tooperate effectually all brake systems rewell-known Westinghouseair-brake system.

20 quire to be constructed so that the maximum Figs. 2 and3 are detailviews of the regulatpower of the brakes shall approximate acering-lever,showing how the link is shifted tain relation to the maximum weight ofthe therealong. Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional decar. In those systemswhere the brake-power tails of the car-truck, showing the shifting isconstant it is therefore necessary to adjust mechanism. j

2 5 this force with relation to the capacity of the In the drawings, 1denotes the brake-actuatcar, the result of which is that when the powering mechanismin this instance the cylinder is properly proportioned tothe work it will of the Vestinghouse compressed-air system. be requiredto do when the car is loaded it So far as thisinvention is concerned,however, will be altogether out of proportion to what any other kind ortype of primary actuating 30 is required of it when the car is empty,being mechanism maybe regarded as the equivalent frequently so much inexcess of whatis actu of that shown. ally needed that the rotation ofthe wheels is 2 are the primary levers,connected together stopped andthe car is dragged along, the by the link 4, as usual. One of theseprimary fixed wheels sliding over the rails. It is to levers isconnected with the piston of the 35 overcome this latter objection thatmy presbrake-cylinder in the usual manner.

ent invention is more especially designed; 7 denotes the rods leading tothe handand it consists, generically, in causing the pribrakes. marylever to exert a variable leverage upon Ordinarily the primary leversare connectthe live lever, the mechanism for varying this ed with whatare known as the live levers 4o leverage being controlled by the varyingverby a single link. In carrying out my inventical positions of the carunder the weight of tion, however, I divide this single link intodiiferent loads. two parts 5 and 6, and I interpose between Specificallythe invention consists in the the adjacent ends of these parts anintermeorganization, arrangement, and construction diateregulating-lever 3. This is an ordinary 45 of parts hereinafterdescribed and shown. lever of the second or third order. It is piv In anapplication filed September 17, 1890, oted at one end to the car bottomor framing Serial N 0. 365,225,1haveshown and described or to anextension of the truck, and is proan invention which in its genericfeatures is vided with a short arm 31, projecting latersimilar to this.In the mechanism in which ally from one side and extending thence for 50the invention is embodied in that case the a short distance toward itsouter end, as link'which usually connects the primary leshown. The link6, which connects this reguverwith the live lever is connected to a pivlating-lever with the live lever (not shown) along'its length. It willthus be seen that the primary lever, instead of exerting a constantleverage upon the live lever, as-heretofore, is by my'present inventionadapted to exert a variable leverage thereon. This variation of theleverage may be effected by means under the control of the brakeman, ifdesired. I prefer, however, to make its regulation entirely automatic,and this is accomplished in the present illustration of this inventionby the following means:

To the spring-plank b or other part of the car truck whose verticalposition is not changed by variations in the weight of the load ispivoted the take up lever 0, similar to that described in my applicationfiled August 13, 1889, Serial No. 320,557. To the end of the lever, asin the application just referred to, is connected one end of a rope 8,the other end of the rope being attached to the yoke-piece 51 on thelink 5. The take-up lever is arranged to be operated by the rise andfall of the bolster a, as in the other application; but in this case Iconnect the-bolster a with the lever c by a link d, which causes thelever to be actuated both ways by the bolster instead of only beingdepressed,

as before.

The chain or rope 8 passes on its way from the take-up lever c to theyoke 51 over a pulley 11, fixed at any convenient point on the carbottom or truck, it being shown secured by a suitable casting to the 1bolster,

The manner in which the rope is connected with the end of the link 5, soas to move its yoke 51 along the regulating-lever without interferingwith the free action of the lever, is as follows: A friction-roller 9 ismounted coincidently with the pivot of the lever, and in the outer endof the lever anotherfrictionroller 10 is arranged. The rope is leaddirectly from the roller 11 on the bolster to and around the roller 9 atthe pivot of the regulating-lever. Thence it is carried along the leverto its outer end, Where it is passed around the roller 10 and has itsend attached to the yoke-piece 51. Arranged in this manner it will benoted that any strain on the lever imposed by pulling on the rope willbe in the direction of the levers length and will not affect its freeswinging motion.

It is one of the advantages of this invention that it can be adapted toany of the systems now in use by simply dividing the link connecting theprimary and live levers and interposing the regulating-lever, afterwhich the take-up or shiftinginechanism is put in place. This can bedone at very small cost and by any mechanic of ordinary intelligence.

In applying the improvements herein described to cars the leverage andthe amount of slack in the connections may be adjusted so that when thecar is empty the two parts 5 and 6 of the connection between the pri--mary and live levers will lie normally in a line with each other; but Iprefer, especially if the car is of unusual maximum capacity or thedifference between the minimum and maximum brake-pressures is great, toarrange and set the parts so that the point of connection between thelink 5 and the regulating-lever may benormally somewhat nearer to thepivot of the regulating-lever. In this way I am enabled to provide foran available maximum brake-power of the highest degree for loaded earsand yet. reduce the brake-shoe pressure for empty ones much below whatis now common, thus entirely preventing the flattening of the wheelswhich results from sliding on the rails when locked. It is also to benoted that provision is made for the unequal loading of cars. To thisend each truck has its own regulating-lever and takeup or shiftingmechanism, so that in case the bolster of one truck is more depressed bythe weight of the load than the other a come spondingly greaterbrake-pressure will be applied to the wheels of that truck.

The operation of the invention is as fol-' lows: With an empty car (theparts being in the position shown in Fig. 1) when the pull comes on thelink 5 its point of connection with the regulating-lever travels on ashorter radius than the point of connection between the lever and thelink 6, leading to the live lever. transmit the minimum amount ofpressure to the brake-beams. When, however, the bolster is depressed bythe increased weight of a load 011 the car, the take-up lever cis'thrust downward, drawing on the shifting rope and pulling the yoke 51farther out toward the power end of the regulating-lever, thereby takingup any slack in the connections and in effect lengthening the lever soas to greatly augment its transmission of power to the live lever. Thus,assuming a given amount of power in the primary brake-actuatingmechanism, by the interposition of the above-described devices it istransmitted to the brake-beams through a lever whose length ispractically Variable, the extent of the variations being controlledentirely by the weight of the loaded car.

Any suitable slack take-u'p may be used in connection with thisinvention, it being particularly adapted to that shown and described inmy application filed August 22, 1890, Serial No. 362,715.

I wish it understood that I am not restricted to any of the details ofthe construction shown. The form of the regulating-lever may be changedand any other mechanism employed The effect of this, it will be seen, isto to shift the yoke-piece 51 along the lever. If

found necessary or desirable a spring 32 may be connected at one endnear the pivot of the lever and at the other with the yoke, as shown inFig. 2, and so as to restore the parts promptly to normal position whenthe brakes are released, and a turn-buckle or other device forshortening up the rope 8 may be used, if necessary. I believe myself tobe the first to transmit the power applied to the primary lever invarying degrees to the live lever and thence to the brake-beams.

What I claim, and desire to secure, is-

1. In a brake system, the combination of the actuating mechanism, theprimary lever, the live lever, and a regulating-lever, the latter beinglink-connected with the primary and live levers and the primary leversconnection with the regulating-lever being adjustable, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a brake system, the combination of the actuating mechanism, theprimary lever, the live lever, an intermediate pivoted regulating-lever,a fixed connection between the latter and the live lever, and anadjustable connection between the regulating-lever and the primarylever, substantially as described.

3. In a brake system, the combination of the actuating mechanism, theprimary lever, the live lever, an intermediate pivoted regulating-lever,a fixed connection between the latter and the live lever, a connectionbetween the regulating-lever and the primary lever, and mechanismwhereby the latter connection may be adjusted along theregulating-lever, substantially as described.

4.. In a brake system, the combination of the actuating mechanism, theprimary lever connected thereto, the live lever, means connecting theprimary lever with the live lever, and mechanism controlled by thevertical movement of the car for adjusting the connection, so that theprimary lever exerts an increased leverage on the live lever as the caris depressed by the increasing weight of its load, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a brake system, the combination of the actuating mechanism, theprimary lever, the live lever, an intermediate pivoted regulating lever,a fixed connection between the latter and the live lever, an adjustablecon nection between the primary lever and the regulating-lever, andshifting mechanism operated by the vertical movement of the car toadjust the connection along the regulatinglever, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a brake system, the combination of the actuating mechanism, theprimary lever, the live lever, and a two-part connection between thelatter, one part having a fixed connection with an intermediate pivotedregulating-lever and the other having an adj ustable connectiontherewith, and shifting mechanism interposed between this connection andthe car, whereby it is adjusted lengthwise along the regulating-lever asthe vertical position of the car is varied, substantially as described.

7. In a brake system, the combination of the actuating mechanism, theprimary lever, the live lever, a pivoted regulating-lever interposedbetween the two, a link connecting the live lever with a fixed point onthe regulating-lever, a link connecting the primary lever with theregulating-lever, and means for adjusting the point of the lattersconnection along the length of the regulatinglever, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a brake system, the combination ofthe actuating mechanism, theprimary lever, the live lever, a pivoted regulating-lever interposedbetween the two, a link connecting the live lever with theregulating-lever at a fixed point, a link connecting a primary leverwith the regulating-lever, and a shifting 85 mechanism interposedbetween the car-body and the link leading from the primary to theregulating-lever, whereby its point of connection with theregulating-lever isaltered as the vertical position of the car changes,substantially as described.

9. The combination of the spring-plank, the bolster, the lever pivotedupon the former, and the link connected at one end to the bolster and atthe other to the lever, substantially as described.

10. The combination of the spring-plank, the bolster, the lever pivotedat one end to the former and having the rope connected with its oppositeend, and the link connecting the bolster with the lever and causing thelatter to swing and operate the rope as the bolster rises and falls,substantially as described.

11. The combination of the actuating mech anism l, the primary levers 2,the intermediate pivoted regulating-levers 3, the links 6, leadingthence to the live levers, the'links 5, connected at one end with theprimary levers and having a sliding connection with theregulating-levers at the other, the rollers 9 and 10 in opposite ends ofthe pivoted regu- 'lating-levers, the ropes 8, connected at one end tothe links 5 and passing around the rollers 9 and 10, the lever c,pivoted on the spring-plank and having the opposite end of the ropesconnected thereto, and the links (2, connecting the levers c with thebolsters, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HOWARD I-IINOKLEY.

Witnesses:

L. SoHooNovER, Jos. L. WATsoN.

